Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-82-045-1108: University of Colorado Medical School; Denver, Colorado

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gunter, Bobby J. ; Thoburn, Theodore W.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  The potential health hazards from exposure to formaldehyde (50000) and phenol (108952) in a gross anatomy laboratory at the University of Colorado Medical School (SIC-8221), Denver, Colorado, were evaluated. The study was requested by medical and dental students and was performed in December, 1981. Students in seven 500 square foot cubicles in the lab were monitored for formaldehyde and phenol exposure. Medical effects of exposure were evaluated using pulmonary function testing and a questionnaire. In 25 formaldehyde area air samples, values were 0.02 to 3.3 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3)
  
  eight samples exceeding the 1.2mg/m3 NIOSH standard. All 30 phenol air samples were within the standard of 19mg/m3, from 0.01 to 12.2mg/m3. Pulmonary function tests gave an average drop in forced vital capacity and in 1 second forced expiratory volume of about 2 percent after exposures. Only one student showed a clinically significant drop. Postexposure headaches, nasal irritation, and cough were reported. The authors conclude that a health hazard to formaldehyde existed at the time of this survey and include recommendations for preventing and correcting this exposure.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Environmental Monitoring Formaldehyde Irritants Laboratories Occupational Health Phenol Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-sampling Breathing-zone Colleges, Universities, And Professional Schools Gross Anatomy Hazards-Confirmed HETA-82-045-1108 Laboratory-workers NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 8 Professional-workers Respiratory-irritants

  More +
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA820451108
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; OSHA Region 8
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  15 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Pryor, Paul D. ; Reno, Stanley J. ; Watson, Cheri
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00127261
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB84-142082
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 82-045-1108, 1982 May ; :1-12
• CAS Registry Number:
  Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0) ; Phenol (CAS RN 108-95-2)
• Editor(s):
  Schulenberg, Marilyn K.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1982
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8221 - Colleges and universities - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d0b4a011487bcaba565cff00bd255a18469bcc123afd7d2a678367e406beeb6ae70b1f5535fbdfc8e6c21e54b1a30ee94c216de3558679b2a6a98046dd1895f6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173122/cdc_173122_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.85 MB ]